This Thing You Call Christmas
by Forbiddensoul562
Summary: It's Hiei's first Christmas in the human world, and he's full of confusion. Can Kurama help Hiei understand the meaning of Christmas? Not Yaoi.


A/N: I was originally going to do a fourth of July story to put on here for one of my HieiOC stories but I never did so I decided instead I need to do a Christmas one-shot involving only the members of YYH. I mean we only get to see this side of them (being all Christmas like) once a year if we're lucky and since I've only done a couple I need the practice, so please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own YYH or any other copyrighted thing that I may accidentally use! Please don't sue me I don't have much anyway, only my YYH DVDs (which aren't mine) and the notebook I keep notes on it in! (I'm a nerd leave me alone)

Title: This Thing You Call Christmas

The world seemed to be at peace at this time of year, at least the Ningenkai did. The Makai wasn't troubled by the changing seasons, and the Rekai was too worried about the many deaths of humans from the holiday travel accidents.

But Hiei didn't understand, it was his first winter in the Ningenkai and nearly overnight everything just suddenly flipped upside down.

This annoyed the fire demon because as much as he hated to admit it, when he had just started understanding the ningen ways, which means barely, everything flips over and completely changes.

He stared up at a dark gray sky, snow was on the ground and the sky was gently laying another layer of it.

His eyes were questioning the sky now, 'why does it snow?' He asked himself, readjusting his stance.

'The humans run when it rains, but when it snows they come out and frolic in it… why?' Humans were not only stupid; they were bipolar.

Suddenly he heard the crunching of snow come up closer to him from the street that led up to Kurama's house. He looked down from the sky finally to find the said fox walking towards him, hugging his jacket around him.

"Hello Hiei." He greeted with a smile, "what are you doing out here?"

Hiei looked back up at the sky, "looking at the sky."

"Why?"

Hiei took a moment to answer this time, he didn't know why he was, he had found himself suddenly entranced within his ever-growing questions.

"Why does it snow Kurama?" He looked down into the questioning emerald eyes. "Water freezes in the clouds and comes down as snow to put it simply Hiei."

Kurama was confused, why would he be asking him that? Hiei had come from a race who lived only with ice and snow, somewhere in him he should know that.

"Have you noticed the way the ningens have started acting differently Kurama?"

"It's the holiday season Hiei, humans do this every year, its just tradition." He said with a shrug, it was when Hiei gave him a questioning look and asked, "holiday season?" That he remembered exactly who he was talking to.

"Some humans celebrate a holiday in the winter called Christmas, it's a giving holiday basically, people give gifts to the ones that they love and to their friends." Kurama decided that there was no reason to confuse the fire demon with the specifics.

"Christmas? You're not making any sense kitsune!" Kurama chuckled, "sorry Hiei I don't know how to explain it any clearer. How long have you been out here anyway?"

"Why?"

"Just wondering."

"Hn, a few hours."

Kurama sighed, "come inside Hiei before you catch a cold." He mentally chuckled at the thought of Hiei catching a cold… was that even possible?

"Hn, baka kitsune, I don't catch colds." Just then Hiei's whole body began shaking, Kurama laughed again, "I don't know Hiei, it seems the snow won this time, your body temperature has been dropping without you even knowing it."

Hiei was barely listening, cold and numbness were what he was feeling right now, it was the first time in his life he had ever felt them.

"Come inside Hiei." Kurama offered him again taking a step towards his house, the fire demon ceased his shaking as best he could and followed the kitsune.

Kurama opened the door into the dark house that was not much warmer than the outside, they were the only ones inside.

"Why have you taken an interest in ningen affairs, Hiei?" Kurama asked slipping of his jacket to reveal his red shirt, then hanging it on a rack.

Hiei stood near the middle of the room as Kurama flicked on the lights, there was an odd tree standing in the corner of the living room, it hadn't been there a few days ago; his attention was drawn to it.

"It's a Christmas tree." Kurama went over to it and plugged it in, the lights that circled around the tree lit up in multiple colors and white lights and all of the ornaments were painted with a new color from the light.

"For this… holiday?" Kurama nodded, "you know the whole group is celebrating it this year Hiei, together at the temple on Christmas day, you should come with me."

Go with him, why? What was so special about this holiday of giving and receiving? Hiei simply couldn't make sense of it all.

"Would I be allowed, Kurama?" He followed him into the kitchen, where the fox was making some hot chocolate for them.

"Why wouldn't you be?" He asked from the counter. Hiei walked over and sat on the counter top, he always loved to watch Kurama make human foods whether he ended up liking them or not.

"Because I have nothing to give. Hn, even if I wanted to." Kurama smiled, "of course, the holiday is also about being with the ones you love, including our whole group."

"And the absence of my gifts?"

"I'm sure they won't mind, I doubt they're expecting anything from you anyway." Kurama gave Hiei the warm mug.

"Hm?"

"Just don't worry about it Hiei. It's good you asked about it though, the holiday is tomorrow."

Hiei took a drink of the warm liquid, he was thinking about the holiday and didn't acknowledge his words.

"So are you staying here tonight then?" Kurama asked, drinking some of his own, his emerald eyes watching his friend.

"Sure." Hiei was quiet for a moment. "What do you want for this holiday Kurama?" He suddenly found himself asking.

"Hiei don't worry about it, you don't have to in order to celebrate Christmas." Hiei didn't listen to Kurama's words, he was already planning and wondering at the same time what he would get his fox friend.

-

Hiei still laid awake that night in Kurama's dark room, the fox asleep beside him. 'What can I get you Kurama?' He thought. Kurama was his best friend, one of the only ones he really considered his friend and he deserved something special.

But Hiei had no ningen currency, and Koenma would probably arrest him if he stole something. And on his own he didn't have that much.

His fingers suddenly moved up and his eyes widened; he had found the perfect gift for Kurama. This ningen holiday would be as perfect as he could imagine it being.

-

The next morning Kurama spent some of the morning with his mother, Hiei stayed upstairs and thought over what he had decided. Then around noon Kurama and he left his ningen home and made their way to the temple where everyone was gathered.

"Hey, Kurama you made it!" Yusuke said happily coming over to them, "and you brought Hiei with you! I didn't think you were into this stuff Hiei."

"Hn, I'm not detective." He looked around at everyone exchanging gifts with smiles on their face, the happiness would soon make him nauseous.

Kurama and him stayed inside for about an hour, Hiei still as anti-social as he usually was. Everyone got something except him, but he didn't care, he would be happy once he had given his own gift.

He watched all of the boxes, wrapped in their shiny paper being exchanged between people. They would then take the paper off with smiles on their faces, and when they saw what was inside the smiles somehow grew even larger.

Hiei didn't understand it, what was the point of hiding it underneath the paper? Even so he wondered if he should have wrapped his own gift.

He suddenly stood up from the sidewall where he had been watching everyone and went outside to a railing near the temple building, he sat on it and looked out, there was no snow falling today and he could finally think.

'This ningen holiday is stupid.' Hiei thought, 'it's just gives ningens a reason to exchange things to show some mysterious point, so why do I feel so compelled to do this?' He thought to himself.

He decided to let everyone have their fun inside, why had he come in the first place, Hiei was never social and he didn't understand the practice of Christmas.

He felt very left out.

'But what else am I supposed to do? Have I not been following the rules of Christmas exactly as Kurama told me?' He asked himself, looking up at the colored lights that hung from the roof of the temple.

Suddenly the door that led inside opened and Kurama walked out, he looked over at Hiei with questioning eyes as he came over. "Why did you leave?" He asked.

Hiei shrugged, "the happiness and joy they're letting off is nearly sickening." His crimson eyes met the emerald ones.

He tried to hide his nervousness and sudden second-guessing, but he knew that if Kurama really tried he'd be able to see through him as clearly as if he were glass.

But this sudden emotionless gaze would surely show the fox that he was hiding something, he knew that's what Kurama would think, so he let slight nervousness pass through.

As if on cue Kurama saw it, "Hiei?" He asked, the fire demon could only inwardly smirk at how slight control he had over what the kitsune saw in him. But Kurama held more power, he always saw everything one way or another.

"Hm?"

"If you want to leave Hiei you know you can." Hiei gave him credit for trying; it was an honest and well-placed guess.

"That's not it Kurama." He looked back over at Kurama who crossed his arms in question.

'I wonder if one of the reasons Kurama likes me is because I'm a puzzle… he is the one who said it.' He pushed the thought away, 'this stupid weather and stupid holiday has corrupted my mind.'

"I don't know how ningens say it but… I'm giving you a gift for this stupid holiday." Kurama smiled, "I've already told you Hiei, you really don't need to."

"Hn, I know baka. But I think you deserve it and I want you to have it." Kurama's features filled with wonder.

Hiei exhaled a heavy breath and rethinking everything over again while he removed his gift without Kurama seeing. He extended his arm and let it drop, holding part of the string on his fingers.

His mother's tear gem hung between them.

Hiei tried not to let his heart ache as much as it wanted to, he was handing over the one thing that had filled him with a strange calm for so many years.

"Hiei I can't take that."

"I want you to." He forced himself to say.

"But it's yours Hiei! You went through so much to get it back."

Hiei exhaled and let his sadness go, he closed his eyes, "that doesn't matter Kurama, it means nothing at all."

When he reopened his eyes he saw the look on his friends face, the one that he didn't want to voice: 'what are you saying? Who are you, what do you mean it doesn't matter?'

"Take it Kurama, maybe it'll provide you the same effects it does on me." [1

Kurama looked directly into Hiei's eyes, giving him the chance to recall everything he was saying and everything he was really handing over, but Hiei had made his decision and finally with a shaking and hesitant hand Kurama took it.

Hiei watched Kurama slip it over his neck and under his shirt to conceal it from view. "Thank you Hiei, it means a lot."

Kurama's hand moved into his hair and took out his rose, the one he always used, he handed it over with a smile on his face. Hiei wondered if Kurama was having as much of an internal battle with just handing it over like he had.

"Now you owe it to me to take this." Kurama said still with that sincere smile gracing his features. Kurama could grow another rose that he could use for all of his attacks, but this had been his first one, the one he had always used, it really did mean a lot.

Hiei took it gently and looked over the perfect petals that would never die away. "Thank you Kurama." He let a small smile pass all his barriers, only for Kurama to see.

Kurama matched it, "are you going to come back inside?" Hiei stood up and began following the fox.

"Hiei I think you finally learned the meaning of this holiday."

"Hn, I'll never understand why ningens do what they do." He placed the rose in his pocket, "but maybe this one thing is beginning to make sense, the thing you call Christmas."

Kurama smiled with his hand on the door, "merry Christmas Hiei."

"Hn, merry Christmas, baka kitsune."

The End!

A/N: I think that turned out really good! I even added things from the show that most people should pick up on if they pay attention! Anyway I tried keeping them as in-character as the show and as much as the situation would allow. Please review and let me know how I did!

[1: I used to have a picture of Kurama with his hand open and what looked to be Hiei's tear gem in it, and when I saw that I was like, "dude what's going on?" But I seemed to have misplaced it so I couldn't look at it, I think it's from later on in the last season but I've never seen the last episodes so I don't know. If anyone knows what I'm talking about please tell me what was happening and why it happened!

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to everyone!

_-Forbiddensoul562_


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